There was a time when counterfeit fashion, ranging from clothing to luggage and from watches to trainers, was the preserve of dodgy market stalls and Sunday car boot sales. Cheap, tacky imitations were imported by the container load from the Far East and sold with one eye open for police and trading standards officers.
But all that has changed, largely thanks to the rise of e-commerce and social media but also due to a change in attitudes towards counterfeit goods and the quality of many of today’s fakes.
At Avena, we take counterfeiting seriously. Our
SecureBrand service has been specially developed to provide secure destruction and recycling of textiles and clothing for the fashion industry. In this article, we look at some of the current threats that fashion brands are facing and how this situation is likely to play out.
How The Internet Is Helping Counterfeiters
There are two ways in which the internet has helped counterfeiters grow their market – e-commerce and social media influencers.
Before the advent of e-commerce, counterfeit traders were forced to have a physical location from which to peddle their wares, even if this were a temporary stand on a street corner or over a pint at the local pub. This made them more vulnerable to police interference and perpetuated the tawdry appearance of their trade. But the dramatic growth of online retail has transformed how they do business.
They now benefit from the highly efficient distribution networks used by bona fide traders to ship individual consignments around the world in a matter of days and at minimal cost. This also reduces the risk of whole containers full of counterfeit goods being seized and confiscated by customs officials.
They have slick, professional websites that show consumers exactly what they are going to buy, and with reviews from satisfied customers to boost consumer confidence.
But they also have the support of influencers on social media platforms. While influencers are careful to avoid naming the people or sites they buy fakes from, they often go to great lengths to show how well-made and desirable the fakes are. With some influencers having followings in the hundreds of thousands, the popularity of acceptable fakes can quickly go viral.
New Attitudes Towards Counterfeit Fashion
Fashion has had a long relationship with imitations. Fake fur and animal skins have become acceptable, more ethical alternatives to the real thing, while synthetic materials have been developed to closely resemble natural fabrics and leather. Maybe that is why consumers are now taking a different attitude towards fake brands.
From the consumer’s perspective, the counterfeits are no longer pale imitations of the real thing. Some are so well made that they are indistinguishable from the real thing, and that isn’t surprising – one private detective filming undercover in a factory in China discovered genuine branded sneakers being manufactured alongside their counterfeits, on the same machinery and by the same workers.
The other shift in attitude is towards transparency among the counterfeiters. They can offer identical-looking goods of equivalent quality at a fraction of the price, so there’s no harm in them openly telling buyers that they aren’t genuine. If consumers knowingly buy fakes, some argue that this is a victimless crime.
Who Gets Hurt By Counterfeits?
But is counterfeiting really that harmless? Not according to Interpol. They frequently find counterfeiting going hand in hand with other more serious criminal activities such as human trafficking, with labourers held captive, forced to manufacture counterfeit goods, and worse.
One popular strategy used by fashion brands to increase brand value is to limit production or availability and thereby increase the prestige of the products, the purchasers and the recipients. By offering cheaper and more widely available alternatives, counterfeiters are damaging all that. A coveted gift may no longer feel so special if it is almost identical to a cheap knock-off available on the internet, while an item bought as an investment may lose value if it becomes indistinguishable from replicas.
The brands themselves will also suffer if fake becomes mainstream and acceptable. With little incentive to buy the real thing if a fake can match the appearance and quality, consumers will start to abandon the brands. This will inevitably result in the demise of the brand and, ironically, any value the counterfeiters have gained from their illicit association with it. The tragedy of this is that the counterfeiters will simply look for another brand to copy.
What Can Be Done To Stop The Counterfeiters?
Unfortunately, there is no single quick-fix solution to this problem. The decentralisation of shipping and distribution has made it harder for the authorities to track and seize counterfeit goods in transit, while the fact that so many designer brand products are made in China makes it almost impossible to shut down illegal manufacturers.
Realising the negative effect that counterfeits could have on their reputation, platforms such as eBay are taking proactive measures such as setting up facilities where goods can be checked by experts in an attempt to stop fakes before they hit the market and penalise the manufacturers and resellers involved.
Once counterfeits have been identified, it’s important to ensure they are permanently removed from the supply chain and prevented from reaching the grey market via other routes. E-commerce platforms and importers can do this by using a secure textile and garment shredding service such as SecureBrand.
Specially-designed consoles are used to securely store the clothing, which is collected by a
BS7858 security-vetted Avena customer service representative. The goods are returned to our destruction facility in one of our fleet of vans, fitted with CCTV cameras and real-time satellite tracking, where they are shredded into small fibres. After destruction, the fibres are repurposed into new products such as sound insulation and padding, thereby extending their useful life and reducing the volume of waste created by the fashion industry.
